Sealing member



Patented Apr. 7, 1953 SEABING MEMBER Frederick D. Mayer, Chicago, 111., assignor to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, acorporation of Illinois Application July 3, 1946, Serial No. 681,262

4 Claims. (01. 220-26) 1 This invention relates to a sealing member adapted to be held in sealing contact with a surface, and relates particularly to such sealing member constructed of sections of flexible material arranged in edge-to-edge relationship to form a continuous seal.

The sealing member described and claimed herein is particularly useful in floating roof tanks for contacting the shell of the tank to form a tight seal therewith. The sealing member is ordinarily supported from the roof of the tank and slides along the wall of the tank as the roof rises and falls. The sealin member comprises broadly a plurality of sheets of flexible material such as metal to be arranged in edge-to-edge relationship, to form a continuous seal, with each sheet having an edge portion arranged adjacent an edge portion on the next sheet, and compressible sealing material to be arranged between said edge portions to form a tight seal therewith. The assembled sheets and compressible sealing material are so constructed and arranged as to form a smooth surface for contacting the surface to be sealed.

The invention will be described as related to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one form of sealing member; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing an alternate form of sealing member.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive the sealin member comprises sheets H] of metal or the like joined in edge-to-edge relationship to form a continuous sealing member. One vertical edge H of each sheet I is provided with a raised flanged edge portion that is substantially parallel to, but spaced from, the plane of the main body portion of the sheet. This raised portion l i overlaps the vertical edge of the next sheet and provides space for a compressible sealing material l2 between the raised edge portion II and the corresponding edge portion i3 oi the next sheet. The sheets are held together by means of spaced fastening devices l4 extending through both edge portions H and i3, and the compressible material l2. The fastening devices shown are those described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 681,261, filed July 3, 1946, now Patent No. 2,453,154, issued November 9, 1948.

In Fig. there isshown another embodiment of the invention... Here. adjacent edge portions [.5' of the individual sheets of metal Hla are in the form. of upturned flanges that are at sub.- stantially right angles to the main body portions of. the sheets, with flanges being substantially coextensive and spaced fromeach other to form a space for the compressible sealing material. The fastening devices l4 extend through the flanges and through the compressible sealing material.

The sealing member which is the subject of this invention provides a tight seal between the individual sheets of metal, with this seal being resilient so that the entire member can more easily conform to the curvature of the surface 58 of the tank wall I!) against which the sealing member is to be used. When the member is used on a surface over which it slides, for example in floating roof tanks, it is ordinarily desirable to provide the sealing member with top I 6 and bottom I! edge portions bent back from the vertical. This enables the sealing member to slide over projections on the surface.

Any compressible sealing material I 2 may be employed. It is ordinarily preferred, however, to use an expanded synthetic rubber, such as sponge neoprene.

Having described my invention as related to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In a floating roof tank having a shell and a floating roof therein, a sealing ring for contacting the inner surface of the shell, said ring consisting of a plurality of individual seals with such seals comprising sheets of metal arranged in end to end relationship, with each sheet having its vertical edge portion arranged substantially parallel to the vertical edge portion on the next sheet, said edge portions extending inwardly and forming a vertically projecting fin, and a plastic resilient sealing material arranged between said edge portions to form a tight seal therewith, said assembled sheets and compressible sealing material forming a smooth convex surface for contacting the inner surface of; the shell, and means extending through said fins securing the plates together and compressing the sealing material therebetween, said securing means being the sole means for securing the plates together.

2. In a floating roof tank having a shell and a floating roof therein, a sealing ring for contacting the inner surface of the shell, said ring consisting of a plurality of sheets of metal arranged in end to end relationship, with each sheet having a vertical edge portion arranged substantially parallel to a vertical edge portion on the next sheet, a plastic resilient sealing material arranged between said edge portions to form a tight seal therewith, and spaced fastening devices extending through said edge portions and the sealing material to compress the sealing material between the edge portions, said metal sheets, sealing material and fastening devices forming a smooth convex surface for contacting the surface to be sealed, said fastening devices being the sole means for securing the plates together.

3. The sealing ring of claim 2 wherein said abutting vertical edge portions are at substantially right angles to the body of the sheets.

4. The sealing ring of claim 2 wherein the abutting vertical edge portion of the sheet overlaps an edge portion of the next sheet, with the overlapped edge portion being in substantially the same plane as the main body portion of its sheet and the overlapping edge being spaced from the plane of the main body portion of its sheet.

FREDERICK D. MOYER.

REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 192,310 Tippett et a1 June 19, 1877 1,324,445 George Dec. 9, 1919 1,494,818 Shean May 20, 1924 1,666,415 Gallagher Apr. 17, 1928 1,782,949 Wagner Nov. 25, 1930 1,832,122 Holbrook et a1 Nov. 17, 1931 1,892,144 Griffin Dec. 27, 1932 2,080,568 Hoenighausen May 18, 1937 2,191,142 Greening Feb. 20, 1940 2,228,779 Pavulecka et al Jan. 14, 1941 2,471,404 Boberg May 31, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 298,451 Great Britain Oct. 11, 1928 

